David Copperfield (1999)

A two-part drama by Adrian Hodges, adapted from the novel by Charles Dickens, and first broadcast from 25-26 December 1999 (BBC1)

Running time: 2 hours and 59 minutes

Photos

Overview

The centrepiece of the BBC's Christmas TV schedule in 1999, this two-part adaptation of Dickens's David Copperfield charts the title character's rites of passage from boy to man.

Young David lives contentedly with his widowed mother, Clara, and their much loved servant, Peggoty, for several years. The unexpected arrival of cold-hearted Mr Murdstone and his equally cheerless sister, Jane, then casts a shadow over the boy's idyllic childhood.

Notes

In David Copperfield, Zoë played a thoroughly unpleasant character for the first time in her career. As she remarked at the time, 'there is no redeeming feature in Jane Murdstone at all'! (See Zoe's David Copperfield cast interview.)

When Zoe next appeared on screen with Daniel Radcliffe (who plays the young David in this adaptation), it was to star in the extraordinarily successful film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001). Other David Copperfield cast members who have also portrayed characters from J.K. Rowling's novels include Maggie Smith and Imelda Staunton.